Dominant copper roo???

[Krystal1983]

So I got 2 dominant copper pullets. Only 2. Thelma and Louise, lol. They are about 3 weeks old I believe but could be 4. (Time goes by so fast.) But I have recently not8ced some differences and am thinking 1 may be a roo. 1 is growing a little faster, has bigger feet, more feathers on the feet, a bigger tail, and a more pronounced crown growing in. If youve had this breed before let me know your opinion. Of course I know it will be a while before it will really be obvious so Im not expecting 100% answers. Just wondering what other people have experienced with this breed as far as male vs. female and age. Thanks.

 

[cherrynberry]

Yeah, too young to say with any certainty. He could be a boy, or she could be a girl.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Yeah, too young to say with any certainty. He could be a boy, or she could be a girl.

Dominant Coppers are sexlinks - it's a girl.

 

[Krystal1983]

Dominant Coppers are sexlinks - it's a girl.

Whay does sexlinks mean? And also ty for the response.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Whay does sexlinks mean? And also ty for the response.

You can tell the chick’s gender at hatch because of their down color.
Their parentage means that the chick’s colors are “sexlinked” so their color at hatch is “linked” to their biological sex.
The father in the Dominant Copper cross is usually a Black Copper Marans, a pure breed who is not autosexing nor sexlinked. (Only hybrids have the possibility to be sexlinked…but pure breeds can be what’s called “autosexing” at hatch.)

So when you cross the Black Copper Marans father with the mother, who is typically a Barred Rock, and some funny genetics mean that she only passes her barring gene onto her sons.

So when they hatch, males be black but will have a white dot and females will be completely black.

Sorry if that didn’t make any sense!

 

[NatJ]

Whay does sexlinks mean?

Sexlinks mean you can tell the gender of the chicks when they hatch, because male and female chicks are different colors.

Certain combinations of roosters and hens can produce sexlink chicks. As @TheOddOneOut said, one such pairing is Black Copper Marans rooster with Barred Rock hen. The sons have white barring like their mothers, and the daughters have no barring and look more like their father.

1 is growing a little faster, has bigger feet, more feathers on the feet, a bigger tail, and a more pronounced crown growing in.

Good observation skills!

The faster growth, bigger feet, and larger comb can be signs of a male, but can also be differences between two chicks of the same gender (in this case I think you just have a faster-growing female and a slower-growing female.)

Bigger tails at this age does not tell anything about gender, because roosters don't grow their big showy tail feathers until they are quite a few weeks older than your chicks.

More or less feathers on the feet never tell you the gender of the chick.

 

[Krystal1983]

You can tell the chick’s gender at hatch because of their down color.
Their parentage means that the chick’s colors are “sexlinked” so their color at hatch is “linked” to their biological sex.
The father in the Dominant Copper cross is usually a Black Copper Marans, a pure breed who is not autosexing nor sexlinked. (Only hybrids have the possibility to be sexlinked…but pure breeds can be what’s called “autosexing” at hatch.)

So when you cross the Black Copper Marans father with the mother, who is typically a Barred Rock, and some funny genetics mean that she only passes her barring gene onto her sons.

So when they hatch, males be black but will have a white dot and females will be completely black.

Sorry if that didn’t make any sense!

That makes perfect sense. Thank you for taking the time to explain! They must be female then. They are the black maran and barred rock cross as you said. This is great news! I really do not want roosters. Again, thank you.